British Steel received an incredible 5,400 applications for just 140 trainee positions in the last six months.

Since opening applications at the start of October last year, the company has had an incredible response for graduate, undergraduate, apprentice and work experience vacancies.

Applications have now closed and the company is in the process of selecting the 140 trainees who will join British Steel this year.

Of those, 17 will be based at the company’s Beam Mill at Lackenby, close to Redcar, while the rest will be based at Scunthorpe.

Paul Martin, British Steel managing director, said: “I’m delighted at the number of applications we’ve received; this signifies a real vote of confidence for British Steel as a company and that people have bought into our vision for the future.

“The fact we’ve had so many applications shows that people of all ages view us as a strong, viable company with a bright future, and clearly somewhere they feel they could have a career.”

An average of 39 people applied per position and Helen Lee, British Steel early careers recruitment co-ordinator, said “it’s an exciting time to be part of the British Steel team”.

Thirty trainees have already joined the business this year and in March, 12 of those started their careers with British Steel on Teesside through a partnership with Middlesbrough College.

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In total, British Steel employs 4,800 people across the world and has taken on more than 350 people since it was launched in June last year.

The Gazette reported last month that hundreds of tonnes of Teesside steel from British Steel is being used to help build Northern Ireland’s biggest hotel - the Grand Central Hotel development in Belfast city centre.

In January, British Steel announced that Teesside was at the centre of plans for growth and job creation in the future.

Speaking to The Gazette, Roland Junck, executive chairman, said: “We want to be an active facilitator for job creation. It is our responsibility in different regions and something we want to play an important role in.”

British Steel, which was created after the company, was bought out from Tata last year, has already secured a series of significant contracts for the year ahead, including at Hinkley Point which will use steel from the Beam Mill at Lackenby.